Review and Giveaway: The Artful (Shadows of the City #1) by Wilbert Stanton

REVIEW

Even though I’m over the age at which the novel's characters about I’m writing to mean still something to me or for me to resonate with them, I personally liked the book. Yes, it's a dystopia; you could say it's an „in vogue” topic and roll your eyes once again - "another dystopia?" - but at a mere glance at the themes and topics in the art world you may notice that there are not many themes and… the variations are the ones that make the differences. In a commercial lingo, but not in the wrong way, we could say that the packaging matters. So, without further intros and unnecessary words, The Artful, Wilbert Stanton's first novel in the Shadows of the City series, is a novel that I recommend you to read and I think you will not regret doing it.

The Artful is the entertaining and interesting story of two antiheroes in a devastated post-apocalyptic world. Antiheroes? For those who do not have a clear idea of the anti-hero image and to not lose time with the dictionary, I might give an example, known probably by everybody, of what this term means (not related to the novel, but just to point the idea): Jack Sparrow from The Pirates of the Caribbean. Our characters are not the knight in a shining armor and riding a white horse type, but two young men trying to survive in a shattered world and one without boundaries of any kind. But ... because there will always be a but, a trigger will occur in their lives that will mark their existence and so even a small thief could become the one that will save the day. Saving the day could mean several things: the own skin, camaraderie, the lives of others, friendship and of course ... love. Because what story would be that in which there will not be a damsel in distress. And as long as you like stories with bad guys, you will like this one too because what is more appropriate for an anti-hero archetype than a bad boy?

To tell you that you will get action? It will be in full. A race against time? Situations and times when all seems lost? It has all and the author will enjoy you with all the recipes that you expect, but also will surprise you. There will be also twists, even quite a few, that will keep your attention awake throughout the book, and at the ending you’ll get a pretty big surprise. Do not cheat and take a peek, the loss will be yours. The novel has its own course and accumulates tension gradually. The main characters and secondary ones are well built and interesting developed. To give you a better image, but see it only as Wilbert Stanton's tribute to Charles Dickens, you can draw a parallel between The Artful and Oliver Twist’s main characters.

Wilbert Stanton's writing style you will find to be delightful, pleasant and concise, and his storyline will run clear without boring moments or unnecessary descriptions.

Those who love dystopian stories will have a pleasant surprise reading The Artful and will certainly wait eagerly the new volumes of the Shadows of the City series.

Happy reading!

A song for Dodger and Twist

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About the author:

Wilbert Stanton was born and raised in New York City. From an early age, Wilbert decided he would either write books or take over the world; everything else was just a precursor to his end game.

Along the way, he has studied Psychology, English, and Computer Science. He’s held jobs in a wide range of fields and met people from all walks of life. Wilbert is constantly learning and growing as a person, in order to solidify his dreams.

In the end world domination was a bit tedious, so he decided to focus on writing books.

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